Content Will we ever be able to turn off the Location / Progress Bar?

[Mike 01Hawk]

I for one would NOT like to know where I am in the book.

If there's a huge 'ending' half way thru the book, then I know it's just a plot twist. Likewise if there's only 1/4 of an inch left, I know the author is gonna be wrapping things up quickly.

Short of duck tape, how long ya think it'll be before the Kindle developers make this a toggable option?

[clintbradford]

How is this avoided when reading a hardcover or paperback?

Geeze ... Now we're demanding that the eReaders OUT-perform paper equivalents (grin).

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by clintbradford

How is this avoided when reading a hardcover or paperback?

Geeze ... Now we're demanding that the eReaders OUT-perform paper equivalents (grin).

I most certainly demand that of an ebook reader. Why shouldn't technology improve the experience where it can? I can't do a text search in my paper books, or instantly look up a word in the dictionary. My paper books don't remember where I stopped reading, either. If an ebook reader didn't do these things, I likely wouldn't buy it.

Adding a control to disable the progress bar should be quite easy and it would make for an interesting new experience. I don't know if there would be a lot of call for it since I think most people are just so used to knowing where they are in a book, but if I had that feature I'd certainly try it just to see what it was like. Sadly I doubt it would ever be high on the list of features to be implemented since it doesn't have huge potential as a differentiator even if it wouldn't be a big deal to code.

[Ben Thornton]

... and you might squeeze in another line of text.

So, an interesting idea.

[kathyfitz]

I personally like knowing where I am in a book. Although your points are the same ones I have when watching sports tape delayed like during the Olympics.

I guess the difference for me is how far am I going to push it reading late into the night? If I am close to the end of the book or the end of a chapter, I will push forward, but if I have too far to go I can get some sleep and finish the next day. I actually prefer how iBooks deals with it. I have both a progress bar and how many pages are left in a particular chapter.

[RDaneel54]

My Sony 505 has the page number and total pages on the bottom. Never thought to ask if it could be removed. I guess if it can be, someone will find a way to hack it.

[AnemicOak]

You could always cover it with tape.


Seriously though, they certainly could do it. It can be done on the Opus, but then so can other things that the Kindle doesn't allow such as emboldening the text, turning off the flash on page turns, selectable justified text (or not) and using your own fonts. I know Amazon tries to keep everything simple, but more options would be nice sometimes.

[Strolls]

I think it's a really cool idea. It might prove frustrating at times, but I'd like to try it. Hopefully someone at Amazon is reading this, agrees with us and gives it a trial test.